re Choosing a board for children

[puffin]

From an amazing experience yesterday...

A good friend decided to finally get his kids (daughters 11 and 7, 4'11" and 4' even). He had them on a Starsurfer with a Hotsails 2.1. The girls learned very quickly, had a great time, and appear to be bitten. The board is small enough that either girl could turn the thing by repositioning the rig (the older girl was tacking inside of five minutes). They had none of the "barge" issues that I've run into in informal instruction of kids on adult boards of any size. The board was outstanding.

It was a fantastic day...very rewarding. I have a blog entry about it here if anyone is interested:
http://www.peconicpuffin.com/the_pec..._frenzy_i.html

Frank Scotello wrote:
My kids both weigh 50lbs and are 48"(son) and 52"(daughter) tall. They will be sailing in 8-20mph winds. I'm not concerned about sharing a board with my kids. My wife and I both have our own boards. I'd like to get a board that works well for them in non-planing conditions, as well as transition into planing. I like the rio small for the retractable centerboard, but I fear the board may be too big for the sail size(1.0, 1.5, 2.4) they will be using. I like the idea of the kids being able to kick up the centerboard if they want to try and plane and then put it back down to get them back upwind if needed. The centerfins aren't as convenient. Would the rio small work for them? If not, what are your board suggestions?